Tray carton



March 3, 1959 I o. w. SYITONE 2,375,941

- TRAY CARTON Filed Sept. 16, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 0/2/s0/vW. 57'0NE BY 74%.? ATTOIP/Vf Y5 March 3, 1959 o. w. STONE TRAY CARTON 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 16. 1955 IN VEN TOR. 0R/50/V VV. STONE A;TORNE Y5 I o. w. STONE March 3, 1959 TRAY CARTON 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledSept. 16, 1955 INVENTOR o/e/so/v W STONE ZTTORNE Y5 United States PatentTRAY CARTON Orison W. Stone, Valley Cottage, N. Y., assignor toContinental Can "Company, Inc., a corporation of New York ApplicationSeptember 16, 1955, Serial No. 534,781

Claims. (Cl. 229-34) The invention relates to folding paperboardcartons, and particularly to improvements in doublewalled, .orhollow-walled, cartons of tray form.

Because folding cartons of this particular type are formed from complexblanks having numerous panels, extensions, flaps, etc., themanipulations involved in erecting the cartons for use are likewisesomewhat complex, requiring considerable skill and dexterity to performthem. The problem is that there are so many parts of the blank to befolded this way and that, and requiring to be held just so in apartially erected state while otherparts are moved into desiredpositions. Consequently, some degree of skill and training is requiredon the part of persons engaged in setting up the cartons at customersplants-speaking, of course, of the customers of the folding cartonmanufacturer.

It is an object of my invention to devise a folding carton, of the 'typeindicated, in which improved means are provided for locking certain ofthe panels, flaps, extensions, etc., together during erection of thecarton so as to simplify the manipulations involved; further, toaccomplish this end without the need for gluing or stapling partstogether as an aid to such manipulations; andfurther, to provide greatersecurity against unfolding of the. erected carton or against anytendency for the carton walls to pull apart at the corners understresses imposed during use and handling.

Summary 7 My invention comprises, in its general arrangement, a foldingpaperboard carton having a bottom paneland inner and outer side and endwall panels, and which includes an end wall construction in whichelements attached to the outer side walls are held by foldinglockingflaps on the adjacent inner end wall. so that the sidewalls are helderect during the operation of folding the inner end wall to its erectedposition, and so that all of the elements are securely locked againstseparation at the corners without gluing or stapling, and without theuse of fussy interlocking tabs with hooked ends, etc. The elementsattched to the outer side walls include end flaps adjoining the ends ofthe outer side wall panels and folding inside the adjacent outer endwall panel, and end flap extensions adjoining the end flaps andoverlying the inner end wall panel. The folding locking flaps engage theedges of these end flap extensions in a manner to produce the severalnew and improved results described.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds.

Description With reference to the accompanying drawings, I shall nowdescribe the best mode contemplated by me for carrying out my invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an inner face view of the blank from which my improved traycarton is formed.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the first folding step in erecting thecarton.

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Fig. 3 is a top perspective view of one end of the car ton-showing asecond erecting step in which the side walls are fully erected and a.pair of end flaps adjoining the ends of the outer side wall panels arefolded into what is to be the plane of the outer end wall panels.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, illustrating a third erecting stepin which the end flaps are held in erected position by locking flaps onthe adjacent inner end wall, which locking flaps engage extensions ofthe end flaps.

Fig. 5 is a top perspective View of one end of the carton, fullyerected.

Fig. 6 is a central vertical cross-sectional view of the erected cartontaken on line 6-6 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a top perspective view of the erected carton.

The preferred construction illustrated comprises a bottom panel 10,outer side wall panels 11, 11 and outer end wall panels 12, 12 adjoiningthe bottom panel along fold lines 13, 13 and 14, 14, respectively,defining the edges of the bottom panel. Inner side wall panels 15, 15and inner end wall panels 16, 16 adjoin the outer side and end wallpanels along fold lines 17, 17 and 18, 18,.

respectively, defining the upper edges of the carton. End flaps 19, 19,19, 19 adjoin the ends of outer side wall panels 11, 11 at fold lines20, 2t), 2t}, 20 which define the corners of the erected carton. Theseend flaps fold inside the adjacent outer end wall panel 12. End flap.

extensions 21, 21, 21, 21 adjoin the end flaps along fold lines 22, 22,22, 22 which are substantially in line with fold lines 17, 17 as formedin the blanking and scoring .operation (see Fig. 1). Each-end flapextension 21 has a I diagonal edge 23.

When the end flap extensions have been brought into a position overlyingthe adjacent inner wall panel (Fig. 4), locking flaps 24, 24 at the endsof the adjacent inner end wall panel fold around edges 23, 23 of the endflap extensions, locking end flaps 19, 19 firmly in erected positionboth during and after folding of the adjacent inner end wall panelinwardly and downwardly to complete erection of the carton. This, ineffect, makes a unitary sub-assembly of the. several parts of the endwall construction, viz. end wall panels 12 and 16, end flaps 19, 1'9 andflap extensions 21, 21 facilitating the remaining operations for settingup the carton for use, and yielding the other desirable results whichhave been mentioned hereinabove.

locking projections 27 in the respective locking flaps for engagementwith edges 28 of the respective inner side walls 15 to hold the innerend wall in erected position with the end wall extension 25 snuggedagainst the base of the adjacent end flaps 19, 19 (Fig. 6).

The inner side wall panels 15 preferably have extensions 29 overlyingthe bottom panel and meeting to predetermine the inward slope of theinner side wall panels. This slope is further predetermined by the tabs30 formed by cuts 31 extending from the ends of fold lines 32 of theextensions 29. These tabs abut against the bases of the outer side wallpanels when the carton is erected. Tabs 33 are formed so as to bend awayto permit engagement of locking projections 27 with edges 28 of theinner side walls in the manner already referred to.

The manner of erecting the carton will be further comprehended byreference to Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive, illustrating the preferredsequence of steps in setting up the carton for use. First, the innerside wall panels 15 with their extensions 29 are folded flat against theouter side wall panels and bottom panel as in Fig. 2. Next, the sidewalls are erected and end flaps 19 turned inwardly as in Fig. 3. Thenthe end walls are raised and locked by means of locking flaps 24 as inFig. 4, and finally the locked inner end wall panel assemblies arefolded inwardly and downwardly while turning extensions 25 under againstthe bottom and outer end wall panels, springing the locking projections27 behind edges 28 to complete the erection and locking of the cartonwalls as in Fig. 5. With use of the construction I have described, theseveral steps can be more or less. independently performed because ofthe sequential locking action provided, making it much easier to set upthe carton without seeming to be all thumbs, as the saying goes.

The carton so constructed can be used as an open tray, or may if desiredbe provided with a flanged cover, or the contents may be held in placeby a separate paperboard band 34 '(Figs. 5 and 6) having its ends tuckedinto slots formed by cuts 35, 35 at fold lines 14, 14 (Fig. 1

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used in adescriptive and not a limiting sense, and I have no intention ofexcluding such equivalents of the invention described, or of portionsthereof, as fall within the purview of the claims.

I claim:

1. A folding paperboard carton comprising a bottom 7 panel, outer sideand end wall panels adjoining said bottom panel along fold linesdefining the edges of said bottom panel, inner side and end wall panelsadjoining said outer side and end wall panels along fold lines definingthe upper edges of the carton, end flaps attached to the ends of saidouter side wall panels and folding inside of the adjacent outer end wallpanel, end flap extensions adjoining said end flaps and overlying theadjacent inner end wall panel, and locking flaps at the ends of saidadjacent inner end Wall panel which are folded around the adjacent sideedges of said end flap extensions to hold them against said adjacentinner end wall panel whereby the end flaps are held firmly in erectedposition inside the adjacent outer end wall panel both during and afterfolding of the adjacent inner end wall panel inwardly and downwardly tocomplete erection of the carton.

2. A folding paperboard carton according to claim 1, in which saidadjacent inner end wall panel has an extension folding over said lockingflaps.

3. In a folding paperboard carton according to claim 1, in which all ofsaid inner side and 'end wall panels slope inwardly from top to bottomat the same angle .to the bottom.

4. A folding paperboard carton comprising a bottom panel, outer side andend wall panels adjoining said bottom panel along fold lines definingthe edges of said bottom panel, inner side and end wall panels adjoiningsaid outer side and end wall panels along fold lines defining 4 v theupper edges of the carton, end flaps adjoining the ends of said outerside wall panels and folding inside of the adjacent outer end wallpanel, end fiap extensions adjoining said end fiaps and overlying theadjacent inner end wall panel, said end wall extensions having the edgesadjacent the side panels sloped inwardly, and locking flaps at the endsof said adjacent inner end wall panel, said locking flaps being in theform of triangles with the slope of the hyptoenuseof each trianglecorresponding to the slope of the edge of the end flap extension, saidlocking flaps being folded around edges of said end flap extensions tohold them against their adjacent inner end wall panel whereby the endflaps are held firmly in erected position both during and after foldingof the adjacent inner end Wall panel inwardly and downwardly to completeerection of the carton, the slope of said hypotenuse also correspondingto the slope of the adjacent end wall when the carton is in its finallyerected form.

5. A folding paperboard carton comprising a bottom panel, outer side andend wall panels adjoining said bottom panel along fold lines definingthe edges of said bottom panel, inner side and end wall panels adjoiningsaid outer side and end wall panels along fold lines defining the upperedges of the carton, and flaps adjoining the ends of said outer sidewall panels and folding inside of the adjacent outer end wall panel, endflap extensions adjoining said end fiaps and overlying the adjacentinner end wall panel folding around edges of said end flap extensions tohold them against said adjacent inner end wall panel whereby the endflaps are held firmly in erected position both during and after foldingof the adjacent inner end wall panel inwardly and downwardly to completeerection of the carton, said adjacent inner end wall panel having anextension folding over to hold said locking flaps in locking position,said extension in the completed carton overlying a portion of the bottompanel and contacting the outer end wall panel to predetermine the inwardslope of said inner end wall panel, and said locking flaps havingcut-outs to form locking projections on said inner end wall forengagement with edges of the inner side wall to hold the inner end wallin erected position with said end wall extension snug'ged against thebase of the adjacent end flaps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OtisJune 5, 1900

